The biggest threat to writing is book theft
1 Jan
Here’s a prediction: by the end of 2010 authors and publishers everywhere will be looking at their bank accounts and wondering where the money went. Ebooks are going to be with us big time, and with the coming of mainstream digital publishing comes the the arrival of book theft so widespread it may one day make writing unviable for some.
According to CNN Dan Brown’s latest opus, The Lost Symbol, had 100,000 illegal ebook downloads within days of its release. And these were cracked ebooks too, copies that had had the DRM ‘protection’ removed by some hacker. I don’t come anywhere near to Dan Brown in sales. But I know my own work, in ebook form and as audio, is widely available as torrent downloads out there. Thanks to Google’s search robots set up to look for reviews of my work I get weekly reminders that someone, somewhere is ripping me off somewhere in the world every day.
There are those who claim book piracy isn’t the threat it might appear. A ripped-off book is not the same as a lost sale. Some of the people who pick up your pirated work wouldn’t have bought it in the first place. Maybe, too, someone who wouldn’t have bought your book will get it for free and like it so much they rush out and pay money for the real thing.
I’m not convinced. Does a shoplifter who discovers they’ve stolen something they like go back and pay for it next time? Not usually. They just go back and steal some more. And piracy, remember, is theft, nothing more, nothing less. I don’t care if someone argues, ‘Well I wouldn’t have bought your book anyway.’ Can a shoplifter get away with saying in court, ‘Well I wouldn’t have bought that bottle of Moet, guvnor.’ Of course not. The fact there is no physical loss in digital crime doesn’t make it less of a crime. And certainly not one of those so-called ‘victimless crimes’ we hear so much about today, crimes, it seems to me, that are mainly committed by people who find it socially unacceptable to think of themselves as common thieves.
Don’t misunderstand me. I think the arrival of ebooks is a good thing. I don’t hate the Internet. I don’t think copy protection is a great idea — it seems to punish the honest buyer while the ripoff merchant finds some way round. And I certainly believe there are occasions when books should be given away for free for promotional purposes (though I do think it should be the choice of the writer and publisher to hand it out for nothing, not some geek looking for someone new to pirate).
But theft is theft, and if we’re not careful we’re headed for a culture where millions of casual readers will simply sift the net for ‘free’ books for their ereaders the way they once downloaded ‘free’ music from Napster. The music industry has struggled with the problem of piracy for years. It’s changed the way musicians work, making many more reliant on touring and appearances than music sales.
Where does that leave authors? I can’t make money from public appearances. In fact it costs me to go on tour, and will doubtless cost more as embattled publishers cut back on their own marketing budgets and rely on authors to sell their books for them. The only income I have from writing comes from the sale of books and, at less than 50p a copy or so in royalties for a paperback, it’s not exactly rich pickings. It’s also worth pointing out that books are actually cheaper today than they were ten years ago, by a considerable margin. You can pick up discounted paperbacks online, in supermarkets and book chains for perhaps two thirds of what they cost a decade ago. And still some people want them for free?
There is a real danger that we’re sliding towards a cultural shift which divides creative writers from their work, where copyright itself is somehow seen as theft, a conspiracy against a public that has a ‘right’ to take what it wants from the web for nothing. If that happens we’re headed for fewer professionally published books, a poorer range of literature, and the dumbing down of mainstream publishing to a handful of established genres and big-time authors. This is not what books should be about.
I’m deeply grateful to the vast number of decent, honest readers out there who wouldn’t dream of pirating a book, no matter how easy it might become. But I do wonder if you are an endangered species — and if so how soon it will be before professional authors begin to join you. Those of us who write for a living are lucky, but it’s still a job. If we’re just producing books for others to rip off for free it won’t be long before some begin to find other ways to pass the time.
Tags: Book theft, Writing
The answer is simple yet challenging. Until there's an interest in higher consciousness, none of the world's problems, not only book theft, will be solved. It's always been that way–and it always will be that way. The end of slavery is a prime example of higher consciousness–or conscience–in action.
You nailed it. Doesn't matter if the reader would have bought the book or not. If it's worth reading, it's worth obtaining thru legal channels. Don't like that? Don't get the book. Don't like the mess of DRM? Help us come up with a better solution, one that will benefit the authors and the readers. Because believe it or not, when author suffer, sooner or later, readers are going to feel the impact. Pirates don't like that fact? Well… maybe they shouldn't pirate. Because it is a fact.
Great points! I don't have anything to read an ebook on, so this wouldn't apply to me, but here are my thoughts on what the ebook industry should do..probably the main reason (one of many, I'm sure) most people pirate ebook is because they're so freakin expensive. If publishers charged less, people would buy more (I know that would apply to me). If I had a kindle/nook, I'd be MUCH more likely to buy books that were $3/4 a piece, than $9.99 books, which I could either get at a library/pirate for free.Honestly, to me pirating seems more like borrowing from a library, or lending music to a friend.. if they like the book, they'll buy it maybe (I know you went over this in your post.. but your comparison wasn't exactly a great one imo). If not, it's not a major loss, because they would have lent that book from a friend or library ANYWAY.anyway, great job explaining yourself instead of ranting
David,You may not remember me. I used to edit News Review at the Sunday Times. I now live in New York, where I am trying to break into fiction with a detective series set in western France. I have read and enjoyed several of your books and look forward to the next. The problem you raise is definitely distrubing. I have been examining what might happen to me financially over the next seven years or so (which is as far ahead as I wish to look) if my books should turn out to be a modest success. By the sound of it, I will be lucky to take in more than half of what – in terms of the number of people reading me – I am owed, which is a little depressing. On the other hand, from my perspective, starting at the bottom of the hill, the only way forward is up. I wish you continuing success and hope that the Book Police eventually make an appearance to cut miscreants off from their Kindles.
The primary problem with piracy is that pirates take one copy, whether purchased legally or not, and distribute it to thousands or hundreds of thousands of people. That one copy is replicated endless number of times. When you borrow a book from a library or friend, they have the ONLY copy of that book. One person can read it at a time. They must return it for another person to read it. Just because some people feel the cost is too high does not justify stealing. They don't have a right to read the book for free simply because they don't want to pay for it, or pay what the producer of that book is charging. Pirating is nothing like borrowing from a library. And this is not just ebooks we're talking about–some books are scanned illegally and distributed; my audio books are illegally available for pirated downloads less than 24 hours after they are available for sale. My books are available in both ebook and print format, though I'm primarily a print author. I support all efforts by publishers to protect my rights and theirs by making it more difficult or impossible to pirate my books and other artists.
As an avid reader, it truly disgusts me that certain individuals feel that they can steal others works and not give the proper credit to the creator. I personally enjoy Tuesdays at both chain and independent bookstores, eager to grab up the lastest editions from my favorite authors.Piracy, of any kind, is theft and I hope that someone will be able to stop his crime.
You are spot-on. I am constantly turning pirate sites over to my publisher. I do NOT write for free so people can be entertained. If I was writing for free, I'd go back to writing poetry and short stories and wouldn't be putting in 50-70 hours a week. Book pirates are nothing more than thiefs, and should be treated as such. I don't want them for my readers, because they aren't about to go buy my books if they can d/l them for free. I have no need for readers who won't respect my work and my career as just that: a JOB. How would they like to work for me for free for oh, say, six months? (I thought not). Good post.
Those of us who hope to one day make a living at our writing are just pipe-dreamers, as long as the pirate mentality exists. These pirates get paid to do their jobs, why do they believe everyone else should work for free?
Very scary thought…After all, we've seen what happened to the music business,
I see these kinds of posts a lot and I'm always puzzled by them. I've never heard of an artist quitting because people look at their paintings or sculpture for free while it's a gallery. I don't know any actors who quit when their work is torrented. Same thing with musicians, who have had their work distributed for decades via mix tapes etc without seeing a penny.The Lost Symbol sold one million copies in its first day of publication. You state it had been downloaded 100,000 times in an unspecified amount of time. Mr. Brown MIGHT have lost less than ten percent in sales (assuming anyone who read it illegally was willing to pay for such tripe). If someone doesn't have a passion for their work anymore, or they have nothing left to say or are sick and tired of writing, then they should quit. But they should be aware of the real reason, not because of some imaginary tiny percentage of “lost sales.” I don't agree with everything Cory Doctorow says, but I do agree that a much bigger problem facing the average writer is obscurity.
No, I completely agree that high costs does NOT justify stealing! I was just saying that lower costs would (probably) reduce the problem considerably. In any case, I would buy more books if the cost was lower, even if I don't pirate.
Unfortunately, I think this topic is a reflection of society as a whole. Somehow, over the past thirty years, it's become okay to take/do what you want and not worry about how it might affect other people. Integrity is a rarity in today's world. In regards to publishing…I don't think there is any way to put the genie back in the bottle – and for me, an unpubblished, aspiring author, it's a very bleak future.
So what do you do for a living Georgiana? And how do I go about getting you to do what you do for free?
I don't know if the RIAA are still active, but they, for a while, were helping out with the pirating. I'm not sure if they just sue the “pirates” in court or what.
I may or may not agree with every point you've made, but this is exactly why the publishers' push for ebooks is suicidal.
I'm a writer and an actress. My weekly column and other writings have been pirated and posted at other sites, with ads, for which I receive no compensation. The movies and tv shows I have been in have been pirated extensively. I have done a fair amount of community theater, for which I received no pay, as well as directing for a local church, again for no pay.I also mentor, for which I don't receive any money. I run a saving money blog, which is a free service to help others who are low on cash.I do a fair amount of unpaid work as well as paid work and, as I stated, my work is frequently pirated.I've also done script doctoring for a young fellow in Ohio who didn't have much cash. Hard luck situations are always given the attention and consideration they deserve.Is there something in particular you'd like me to do for free? If you present a solid case I'll certainly consider it. Probably best to do that sort of thing via email so as not to clutter up the thread, don't you think?
If I torrent a book, and I do frequently… I think of it as borrowing, if I like the book or series there is a very good chance i'll go buy it. For example if I get a book from a friend or from a library its the same goddamn thing. Also sometimes i torrent books I own because well, i can't really carry my 200+ books with me all the time, whereas I can carry the digital versions. Online books are not the death of the publishing industry just as online music is not the death of the music industry. There has always been some way to pirate books. . .not a big deal. The shoplifting metaphor does not work because the thing one is copying here is not physical in nature, I, like many others prefer physical copies of books/cds, but if i am in a money pinch, ill download them and buy it later.
most good writers out there are still making good money, so technically they're not doing it for free
the thing is, piracy has been around so long, it's not a new thing. We'd just have to find a way to break piracy or go around it, and still do well as the music and movie industry have done. (Both industries have people still making millions/year).Good books will make money no matter what.I'd be interested to see how it would affect sales if piracy WERE stopped…
If she's an accountant, go torrent simply accounting and learn it.If she's in software, go torrent the software.My point is no matter what she does, there is a way to get it illegally, it just requires some imagination.
“Helping”. They charged a single mother with one child over $300000 in civil court. Instead of going after people who actually do the uploading, they go after easier targets, the people who download. They don't help, they add to the problem
I believe you are missing the point. Borrowing from a library is legal. Pirating an ebook (making copies and distributing them for money or free) is highly illegal. (Jail term 5 years, fine up to $250,000 per occurrence).Borrowing from a library is legal because the publiser, and author, have already been paid for that book. There is only one copy of that book that is “shared” with readers.Pirating an ebook means that there are hundreds or thousands of copies distributed around, and the publisher and author hasn't been paid for any of these. That's depriving an author of his or her livelihood, and ditto for the people working for the publisher.What would happen if someone came into the place where you work and offered to do your job free if your boss would fire you? And no matter where you go, what you can offer the world (and make your living with) is “pirated” by someone else–giving away your wares/services/value free and thereby depriving you of your livelihood.Funny thing is, that would not be illegal, but pirating is still illegal. It deprives the author of making a living, and many authors are starting to reconsider even writing books. Google a few blogs and you will find examples.Whether someone who steals an ebook may or may not have bought it “if the price was right,” that person still committed a crime and stole something from someone.One final note. Check some of the ebook resellers and you will find that 90% of all ebooks are priced in the $3/4/5 a piece. Usually only the big bestsellers cost $9.99.
Dear David, How very sad this prediction makes me. I have been an avid reader all my life and will continue to do so. I too, enjoy the internet and the many places it takes me. I can assure you, I am one with a love of books, who will NOT be pirating them for free. I have a tremendous respect for the authors out there who bring their craft to life so others may enjoy the “adventure”. I actually resisted getting a Sony, Nook or Kindle because of the joy of actually having the book in my hands. This Christmas my husband bought me a Sony and I realize for some authors I will use it for the convenience with the PURCHASE of their work. I will, however continue to purchase my hardbacks and paperbacks of my favorite authors! I mean, how can they sign an e-book! I so enjoy meeting and listening to authors who go to the effort of going on tour! I can still remember my grandparents talking of the rarity of owning a book! I consider it a privilege to have the ability to read and to own my own books. I realize one cannot stop progress; however, perhaps one voice added to another voice added to another will have an impact on the piracy threatening our literary industry. Please continue your craft! It would be a tremendous loss for current and future authors to bow to this threat. I, for one, will do my part to spread my voice to stop or at least minimize the damage. The ignorance of those doing harm seems to always be universal; therefore, we must rely on education and persuasion as our weapons of choice. Sincerely yours, Candy White
So going by the 1 million books sold and 100,000 downloaded (which is NOT a tiny percent), basically you are saying go to the grocery store, purchase 90 percent of your food, and steal the other 10 percent. The store should be able to make profit margins and such with 90 percent.
Piracy is not the same thing as borrowing a book from a friend of library. Copying–digitally or in print–one legally purchased copy is stealing. You can have one copy and make endless numbers of illegal copies. When you borrow from a library, that's ONE copy that can be read by ONE person at a time. I've found that people who pirate will justify it anyway they can. But it's illegal, it's immoral, it's wrong, and ultimately it will damage the book industry. I don't think it will damage it as much as the music industry, which has had to dramatically change the way artists make the bulk of their money, but authors don't get paid to go on tour; advertisers don't usually pay for product placement in books; and most authors sell fewer unit copies than musicians and visual media like movies and television shows. Musicians look to touring, merchandising, and product endorsements–or rights usage such as a movie paying for the right to play a song in a film. Books don't have those type of options–authors make virtually all their money from the sale of the book alone, and most as an actual book whether print or digital (the first publisher, foreign rights, etc.) I'm a full time author which means all my income–that I use to pay my mortgage, support my children, etc–comes from royalties from my books. 100%. I don't get paid for anything else, nor do I see how I could write books and then do other things to earn an income. I don't believe that every pirated book is a lost sale–but I do believe that if piracy becomes more widely accepted among people in general, that people will not be willing to pay for something that they can get for free. Now is the time for authors to make a strong stand against piracy because it will only get worse.If an author wants to give away their work for free, that is their choice. I'll be giving away an original short story on my website in March of this year. I do that so people who may not have read me can get a taste of my voice and if they like it, buy my books. And for my fans who are already invested in my series to give them something as a thank you. But that's my choice, and it shouldn't be stolen from me.I have nothing against ebooks when they are legally purchased. You can have 200+ books with you at all times because most books are available as ebooks.
How is this not shoplifting/stealing. If I hacked into your bank account and took all your money, I didn't physically get anything, but it's still stealing.
I just looked at my bookshelf. I can easily spot at least 50 books that I downloaded illegally. I read the book, loved the book, and then purchased the book. I agree with Shady in that I see downloading books like borrowing them from a library or a friend. I am simply borrowing them from my dear friend, Mr. Internet. After finishing a book I dislike, I delete the file and move on. I do not like to buy books unless I'm guaranteed that I will like them. I don't know if I'll like them unless they are recommended to me, by an author I know and like, or if I've already read them. Basically said, I'm not going to buy some book that I have no connection to, and I have no remorse for borrowing books from the internet until I can purchase them myself.
I agree, David. Your point about us sliding toward a cultural shift “where copyright itself is somehow seen as theft,” is scary as hell, and all too plausible. While increased availability of a writer's work via digital or audio means necessarily lowers a book's per item value, under no circumstances should a book be available for free unless the writer or publisher authorizes it, or the owner of a single book gives it to another person. A torrent download is in no way comparable to “borrowing.” I call b.s. on that–also on the notion that someone who downloads will purchase the very same book later. There are relatively few novelists out there now making a living from their fiction. I do agree that print-and-paper books can be prohibitively expensive, and am hopeful that the e-pub market will not only make books available to wider audiences but will also settle at price points that will be reasonable for writers as well as readers. Most of all, I pray it all comes together well short of the literature-poor future you predict.
Couldn't agree more Allison. Working authors depend on book income alone. Also in Europe and I believe Canada we have public lending right which counts book loans in libraries and pays authors accordingly. I think it's terrible you don't have such an obviously equitable scheme in the US.
You make some very interesting and often right arguments of the subject Book Theft and I totally understand WHY you say them and to a point agree with you.I'll admit to having comitted book theft a few times. However (maybe you don't see this an excuse) I later bought all the books but one (it was really bad) in paperform later.I live in Denmark, a minor country in Europe with a total population of about 5,5mio people, and in my country E-books isn't a big thing generally. There are sooo many types of books and genres (ex. Dark/Urban Fantasy and other mixed genres which is HUGE i the U.S) that never or almost never gets published unless it's become a great success and most likely have been/are going to be made into a movie. As a great example I can mention the major succes, Twilight. It IS possible to buy a lot of English written books online on many sites but very often they cost alot more than in the U.S after shipment and maybe even taxes. Books in general are often expensive i Denmark. A paperback version normally cost from what amounts to $10-35 and a hardback from $20-100 (35-75 most often untill the price is lowered) even though the prices are beginning to be in the smaller end in the last few years BECAUSE of the online book stores competition. This means that, as a student, buying a hardback that just came out can cost me up to 25% of all the money I have awailable for at month. Thanks but no which means that a lot of writers have lost me as a potential customer/reader.ANYWAY, this was just to give the general situation for me as a big time book reader.Back to the subject.As I said earlier it's possible to buy E-books online for me too but often I actually CAN'T because of some legally tax-rules or something prevents me from doing it from my country. I didn't really discover the world of E-books untill 2 years ago and I rarelly use it because I prefer a paper book above any other kind.In the last two years I've begun to read a lot of english book (have every book/series from 3 american authors) because I found some pirate version online and discovered this new world of genres. But again, every book but one that I've read online, I now own in paperback. I buy them online when they get awailable in my country and I can affort the price incl. the shipment. It has also let to the fact that I now have bought whole series from new favorite authors that I never would have found otherwise. I'll even admit that I still occationly read a pirate e-book online when a new book from my favorite author is published and I know the paperback I can get is months away or I find a new potential book/series of interest. This means I'll read a couple of the books online and if they are good then I'll buy them and the others in the series and maybe all book from an author i paperform. If I couldn't do it this way I wouldn't buy any of the books because trying to order one or two books which I might not like will cost me from $15-? every times. That's a possible mistake I can't affort.And even though I know it's not the case for many who read pirate books online, some authors have gotten a new reader in me because those book exist. I know that I'm just one contrary thousands of other e-book pirates but I'll even admit that I'll keep on reading a pirate-book once in a while. It's how I find new awesome books to buy and authors to follow because I can't find them elsewhere. For me a pirate E-book is the way to becomming a potential furure reader and buyer of new books.Just to give another insight in the book theft online.
So are you willing to give up the job that pays the bills and work for free instead?
Lucy,What you've done is illegal and yet you can come right out and say that you do it? My goodness….where have our morals gone?
When you borrow a book from a library or a freind the book was bought one way or another legally and the author was paid in full. When pirated, the author loses a sale and you simply stole that book. This crap about buying a book after you download it is, first of all makes no sense…if you got something for free why would you buy it again? And one way or another you still stole a copy, even if you bought another one was still stolen. There is no excuse to pirate, its simply a digital form of shop lifting and you should e put in the same cell as the guy who ripped a CD from WalMart.
Hi Walter. Nice to hear from you again. To be honest I couldn't predict my own income seven years out and most people would think I'm a pretty well-established author. I think this business is entering interesting times. There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic, and a lot to be worried about. What we need I think is to convince people that the modest cost of a book, in paperback or as an ebook, is fair recompense for the work an author puts in producing it. I spent a year and a bit writing The Cemetery of Secrets. If someone buys it on Amazon UK right now I get less than 40p of the £4.60 it will cost them. When that book first came out as Lucifer's Shadow in 2001 it cost £9.99 in paperback. So I don't really think the issue is price – it's the fact that copyright theft has become so easy because of the move to digital.You should come along to Thrillerfest – http://www.thrillerfest.com in July by the way. Great fun and I suspect we will be discussing a lot.
Thank Candy – but please don't blame the medium. I prefer paper books to my Sony ereader. But it's perfectly possible to be an ereader fan and purchase books responsibly and legally. In many ways I think the move to digital is a great idea. What worries me is that some people will use it as a way to steal things they'd never dream of purloining if they had to snatch them off the shelves of Barnes & Noble.
You know, money is tight for everyone and I understand not wanting to buy something if you're not sure you're going to like it. However, do you apply that to everything? How about food? Do you steal a bag of chips and then throw out what you don't eat if you don't like it? Do you sneak into theatres and watch movies for free, then buy a ticket later only if you enjoy it?We all end up spending money on something we don't enjoy once in awhile. It sucks, but it happens. It does NOT justify THEFT, especially when just about every book you could possibly want to read have both excerpts and many reviews available prior to purchase.
Just a semantic point Lucy…. when you say 'downloaded illegally' the correct and shorter term is 'stole'. Whether you liked the book or not you used it. If you want to read books for free just try a public library.
I wonder how different a pirated book is from buying or selling a used book, as far as the affect on the author's sales. People regularly buy used books and no money returns to the author. Is this really so different?Not that I'm for piracy. I agree it's stealing. I agree it's wrong. But when you look at the numbers, is there a huge difference? There are entire websites devoted to selling used books. Or trading used books for free. How is a pirated copy of a book different than a resale of a book?
Because reselling a book means one copy is going to one person at a time, and like the library example, at least the copy was bought at some point and there's a limit to how many people have access to it. Pirating an ebook means thousands and thousands of people are stealing and making copies. It's completely different than lending or selling an old paperback.
If that's what you got out of my posts you have a much bigger problem than piracy. Best of luck with whatever career you end up with.
What the guest below said. There are some authors who oppose used book sales, though I'm not one of them. However, I have been curious about numbers now that used books are more readily available online. In the past, brick and mortar stores selling used books was so small in terms of sales–and most of those also sell new books along side the used books–that it wasn't a big deal. Having the books available online is far more widespread. However, it's still one physical copy of the the book as opposed to an unlimited reproduction of a book. That makes all the difference.
I wasn't going to open my yap here but then I remembered I got one of your books as a *legitimate* freebie from your publisher way back when. Are *all* of your books pirated or is it just this freebie (which I think was a PDF!) still floating around?
I'm sorry, but I have to take issue with your comment, anon1217. “Most good writers are still making good money?” There's often a huge difference between “good” writing and “salable” writing. It's great when the two come together–but that occurrence is on the rare side. I know many excellent writers who are making *some* money from their writing, but are unable to quit their day jobs. Every sale counts to every writer, but lost sales are particularly hard on these folks.”Good” is a tough thing to define. Genres are so dense and numerous because people read books for very different reasons. Diversity is a wonderful thing. But if the playing field is heavily corrupted, and good, mid-list writers disappear for economic reasons, the market will, as David points out, shrink to a handful of popular writers and disinterested publishers.I'd be interested, too, to see how sales would be affected if piracy were stopped.
It's interesting that you read my post and decided it means you're allowed to shoplift. You must lead an eventful life. I sincerely hope you rethink your decision before you make a big mistake. There are loads of places that offer free counseling and mentoring. You might want to talk to someone before you put your new plans into motion. Best of luck.
Lucy, I agree with you. If I look at my digital library, most books I have there I have also printed. I already PAID for my copy of the book.
Does that mean if I were to buy an electronic copy of the book, I could then steal a print copy because I've already PAID for my copy?
Very well. You got me there. Have your argument!
I'm not saying shoplift at all, being sarcastic. Your post says having 10% of your sales stolen shouldn't be a reason to quit writing, and then calling that a tiny percent is waaay off.
Just some comments.About the library. Don't know hoe the rules are in the U.S but in my country the author get paid an amount annualy by the number of books the libraryhave of his/her books and not the number of times the get rented out. This means that authors who for some reason are seen as 'the must haves' in a library and have many books because they are seen as important to Danish litterature but might not get rented a lot – they get more money than not-so-'important' but well read authors which the libraries doesn't have many copies of but they might be rented out constantly. It's the way it is at the moment which I'm very much against. Luckily there's a talk in the government about changing that (hope it'll come through).About the crap of not bying a book that you already read for free. I'm sure it's true for many. But personally I now own about 75 books in total from 3 different authors. The 7 of those books I read first online which made me buy them in paperform along with the rest of the series. It's the way I can check out authors and their books/series first in my country and order them online (which I wrote in my comment above yours). Beacuse of my limited options in my country, I would never have bought those 75 books if I hadn't read the 7 of them first. As to why you would buy something you got for free. It's because I actually don't like reading a book on a white PC-screen. It is hard for the eyes and strongly limite my possibilities of where I can read it. Yes, I know I stole a copy first the way it was found but for those 7 online reading – I bought 75 books that I never would have otherwise.I don't personalle know anybody else who have read English books online but know from many friends and family that they feel like me. NOTHING can beat the feeling of actually sitting with the book i paperform. I pray that paper-books NEVER stops 'cause e-books will never be a hit with me. But because of the limitations I've had to use the books online to find the gold i paperform.
if you really want to read a book for free, set up a book swap with your friends or co-workers. that's how i check out new books when i can't afford to buy all i want to read. stealing for any reason is wrong. sharing a book someone bought legitimately is a time honored tradition.
Every book I have that is in digital form – as ebook and audio – is available somewhere on the torrents. That includes 18-hour long audio books which have been hacked from the protected Audible originals. I can't and wouldn't complain about freebies out there, Mike. Giving away free copies is part of the marketing process – but as I said elsewhere I think it's up to me and my publishers to decide what's free and what’s not.
I think you'll find you can buy very cheap books from Amazon UK and get them shipped very inexpensively to Denmark if you want. Clearly from what you say you are willing to buy books – which is great. But what about the books you steal that aren't in a series? How would you feel about having your work stolen this way if you were an author?
I this is spot on David. I know lots of people who steal software, films, music, books and so on but refuse to do so myself. I can't see why some people it's unreasonable to pay the creators of these items for their efforts. (There are some arguments I at least understand: for example, £280 is simply more than Windows is worth; £340 is simply more than Office is worth, they should be £80/£110 each – but that doesn't give me the right to steal them. If you want to compute for free, you can, easily, using Linux.) Books are reasonably priced, although I accept that e-books probably should be cheaper than they are, as many are the same price or a small percentage lower than paper books – but they are still reasonably priced. But the advantage over paper books is that I can download a sample chapter free, then decide if I want to buy. At the end of the day, it's still theft if I take one without paying. I wouldn't steal one of your books from a friend's shelves so why steal it on line, just because I don't know the victim of the crime. (Yes, I can borrow it from a friend, so that could be a lost sale, but I have to give it back.) I've followed your blog for ages and consider it one of the best writers' blogs around. I've only recently bought one of your books, which I got for around £2 from a Borders closing down sale – yes, I wanted to pay less for my first David Hewson in case I didn't like it, and I think similar schemes to encourage people to start reading an author are a great idea – but I would never have considered stealing a book to read it. I think it's part of the way we accept that we live beyond our means, we aspire to greater possessions but don't have the cash, so we borrow, use credit cards and quite frankly steal. Anyone who cooks up a reason to justify stealing is denying a part of their nature that is no better than taking from a friend, a shop or whatever. Keep up the good work.
They may be able to afford buying them in Europe, but when you're from Latin America, it's much, much harder. Most Latin American countries, including the one I live in, have most of the population living under the poverty line. Which means these people can barely afford to buy food or have a roof over their heads. No, I am not one of them. But because of this situation of society, there isn't a strong market for books. Yes, there are books here, of course. Yes, we have imported books, translated books. Great. Except that these books are very limited, usually to best sellers. Publishers here won't spend money with copyright and print to translate a book which just won't sell, because reading is not a concrete part of most people's reality. So, bringing a book like The Lost Symbol, an international best seller, would be an advantage: Dan Brown is well know, there's a movie of his books, people will buy. But bringing a book by, let's say, John Doe, who's a NYT best seller in Thriller Author, but unheard of outside the US, is not going to give them profit, so, they just won't bother. Sometimes, they'll try an author, translate them, see if they sell. If not, they stop printing mid-series and leave the fans wondering. Variety just doesn't exist. It's a selected market, filled with national authors and international best sellers. What about importing the original books?, you ask. The ones in the original language? Why don't I just go to the 'foreign' session of the bookstore and buy it? Because in a country where most people can't afford to eat, learning a foreign language isn't exactly a priority. It's barely taught in public schools, and even in private. People who wish to learn another language have to take an extra course, which is substantially expensive. Most people just can't afford. Again, I'm not one of them. I'm fluent in English. But the mass just isn't. And, again, the powers that be won't buy imported books for their bookstores if most people can't even read them. Then you take someone like me. Who loves to read more than about anything, except maybe writing. Someone who speaks a couple foreign languages and wishes to read international books, wishes to have a wide variety of knowledge, learn about new realities and just read good stories. Someone who, despite being able to eat, and have a roof and even afford a good foreign language school, can't afford to buy books on Amazon all the time, because the shipping is about twice the price of the books, and with currency, you end up paying over 50 bucks for two paperbacks. With all the books out there to be read, it just isn't doable.Libraries? Well, pulling my arguments from before, international books aren't even translated/imported for selling, let alone to be available in a library. So, I have two concrete options: either I limit my reading to national books (which for some reason I *hate*. I can't stand national literature), classics and the few (relatively, maybe not in absolute numbers) translated and imported books OR I download illegally. I'm very, truly sorry (and people who know me knows that I am), but I download. I read a lot of books this year. From all the authors I read, all the books, only FOUR books have been either translated or imported to here. None of the other authors have even been heard of here. If you ask people online, in forums and everything, they'll ask “who?”. And, believe me, a few of these books, I made the sacrifice to buy (hence the over 50 bucks for two paperbacks). And, if I lived in the US, I would have bought every single one of these printed books for 7, 10, 15, even 25 dollars. But, from here, I just can't. It's hard for you and many other authors to understand the impossibility of it. You believe that where there's a will, there's a way. Unfortunately, there isn't always money where there's a will or I'd be in an University abroad instead of being stuck here. So, my way, the one I can live with, is to download. And believe me when I say it, I've recommended these books I read to dozens, possibly hundreds of people (if you count forums, amazon boards, yahoo! answers, facebook, myspace, twitter), many of who had never heard of those authors, either. But upon my recommendation, they bought the books, they liked the author, and even bought their backlist. I'm good friends with an author, publishes author, which I met, by the way, in one of these discussions about illegally downloading, and what she told me is that she won't judge me for what I do. In the end, my reading books for free, ends up getting these authors more buys (even if not thousands, but some) than they would have had otherwise. And, yes, I realize most of people just don't want to spend money with books. And I'm sorry there are these people. And, believe me, if I *could* I'd have a million books stacked up here in my home. But I can't. And every time I look for a book by an author I like, I feel terrible about it. But I try to make it up as much as I can. Having said all of that, I want to be an author some day. And, I don't suppose I'd “like” to have my books illegally downloaded, not really. But I wouldn't judge everyone who does it. I wouldn't criticize them all. I wouldn't call them all thieves for that matter, even if that's what people like to call it. Because I've lived this. And the thought of a girl like me, trapped in country she hates, doing something she hates, who uses books as her escape from the world, who wants to read my books and can't afford to, is worse than knowing a bunch of people are downloading my books for free just to save a few bucks.Why did I write all of this? I'm not sure. I'm passionate about this subject. I realize I won't change anyone's mind, and most likely, not many would really understand, because they haven't lived it. I just hope that maybe, just maybe, they would at least realize that not ALL people who download are horrible thieves that are just too scared to snatch a copy at their local bookstore. Some of them don't even have THAT option (not that I would EVER do that, but, stilt… you know what I mean)
Let's have a simple economics lesson. You steal a book, the author can't afford food and a roof over their heads. They stop writing and go back to ditch digging, retail or some other godawful job so they don't have to live in a cardboard box. Then… guess what? There are no more new books to steal. Enjoy your eleventh stolen copy of a Lost Symbol! Tell me, how did the tenth copy end?
So…I'm sorry if I've missed this in your comment, but why can't you buy cheap ebooks in your country? No one said you had to buy everything in paperback from Amazon. But if you're stealing an ebook…why not just buy one from one of the many online ebook stores? You don't even have to pay shipping, they often have discounts and deals (for example, Fictionwise had 40% off over the holidays).I get that people live below the poverty level, but you know what? Authors do too. And if you're willing to fork over money for an internet connection and computer, dropping $5 now and then on ebooks (where authors often get a much bigger cut of the royalties) and then doing the “legwork” to find legal free reads online isn't difficult or expensive.You may think now that you won't mind people stealing your work, but if you ever get published and are trying to make a living at it and support a family, you will be singing a very, very different tune as you want illegal downloads of your work rise into the thousands.
Oh, I did see your bit about foreign restrictions, and I know, that sucks. A little legwork can still find you some ebooks, however, that you get through legal channels and everyone gets paid. But again…if you can't buy something, that means you don't get to have it. I would love a big screen TV and it's not fair that I can't afford one. That doesn't mean I get to walk into the store and steal it. Theft is theft, and while you don't think YOU are doing anything wrong because you have all these ways you want to justify yourself, you're still benefiting from something that is hurting authors and the publishing industry as a whole (and yes, this may come as a shock to people, but cover artists, editors, and marketing people aren't rich either–they too are hurt when books don't sell, and they have families to feed).Also BookDespository.com Free shipping on all paperbacks to most countries and a LOT of deals.
Actually, I don't like Dan Brown the littlest bit. Though, we have BOUGHT two copies of The Lost Symbol here in my home. One for my mom and brother and one as a gift. Get over yourself.
Actually, I've bought ebooks before. In fact, I just got a Kindle. I left that part out because I was making a point. I can afford a Kindle (actually, my dad can, and it's only out of guilt, but who cares?). My parents are kind enough to let buy some books. But not everyone is like me.No more illegal download for me from now on
Like I said, I have a very good friend who's an author and I understand all these things. I still don't think it's wrong for ME to do it, not really. But, then, I didn't say that to change anyone's opinion, and I don't think anyone would change mine. Thank you for being polite about it
Glad to hear you're going to buy from now on. No one who loves books steals books.
I've blogged about this a bit too and agree with absolutely everything you have to say here, David. Some of the commenters who are drawing comparisons to the health of the music and film industries are dead wrong though. The only way bands/musical artists make money anymore is touring. To quote literary agent Nathan Bransford, “This isn't the music industry, no one is making money on an author tours or Ian McEwan t-shirt sales no matter how many I personally would buy.” As for movies, there are still people out there who like the experience of going to see a movie at the theatre. It's a different experience to watching it alone on your laptop. We can't relyon the book industry to stay afloat the same way the movie and music industries have — we just don't have the same lifeboats available, sadly.
Hi, Just read your reply to D.H. who replied to me and no matter what others might mean I totally understand your points. As you said, I live in a European country where the possibility to buy a book might be bigger – also from a web-shop. But as you said the prices often are much more expensive. In my country with a population of 5,5mio most american books never gets translated either. A lot of people read but most books from authors outside Scandinavia (Northern part of Europe) and some from the UK, unless they have become international bestsellers and might be made into a movie, never gets translated because the sales possibilities are seen as non-profitable. A few worlswide known authors I know but genres and well known authors in the U.S who write them were a huge “Who?” and “what?” for me. I've counted and I've downloaded 8 e-books during the last 2½ year and I now own 7 of them in paperform (from 3 diff. authors) + 66 other books in total from those 3 authors. Those 73 books I would never have bought if I hadn't read the 7 books first. Call me naive but the first 3 I read I didn't even know probably was illegal for me to read because I stumbled over someones personal internet library with books she'd bought and thought they were just for reading. The last 5 books I've known was illegal and as you I don't like to steal someones work and again I know it's not an excuse but the money that might have been lost on those 7 e-books mean that they got money from 73 books they so far that they wouldn't have and I'll buy every future books from them too. I save money and use just about all the money I get for birthday/x-mas to buy the books in 'portions' when I can affort them. I have a huge list of would-like-to-have-books but I don't just download them because I know it's wrong but I wont say I'm sorry for the 8 books that I DID download. I could download 1000's of books but don't just do it if I don't have the intention of checking a series for future paperbook buying. I might live in a 'rich' country but it's one of the most expensive countries to live in worldwide too and as a student I live very much under the poverty line. Including the $6,000 I borrow from the state every year and have to pay back in the end, I have an income of of about $19,000 a year. Don't know how much that is compared to the U.S but the average working person in my country earn about $42-55,000 a years. I know that sound like much but my regular yearly expences (and I live cheap) are about $15,500 before food, clothes, schoolbooks/thing for education and extra expences that might show up. This means I have an average of $290 a month for food, clothes etc. This again might sound like a lot to many and enough to just try and buy a book and see if I like it. But, just to give an example, a gallon of milk (have checked the U.S weight scale and converted the prices) cost $6, 1 pound of our dark bread =$1 at least, a pound of butter = $5, most sliced meat you put on/in bread is an average of about $12 a pound. In the last 18months as a student I've bought a regular beef a staggering amount of 5-6 times because I can't affort it because it's about $10-12 a pound and that's not even the good meat. A normal McDonalds meal in my country (and I think it's about the size of a small regular meal in the U.S) is $10-12 so I haven't had a McDonalds meal for 18months. I've even said no to going a couple of times to save the money so that I could save the money to buy a book from one of the authors I now follow because I checked around online. I know someone will just say now that I've just given one long excuse to why I stole those books online. And yeah, you could be right and I do feel bad about doing it. You're right, I shouldn't do it. Every case of downloading illegally is theft no matter the situation. From now on I wont do it again. From now on I wont check out new authors online so they might have gotten me as a new reader/customer. I'll TRY to find the books in one of the 'foreign books' areas in one of the two libraries in my country that have the books that the author might get at few dollars a year from. If I DO buy a unknown book/series online I'll buy it used. The author wont get any money from me in the end and I might sell it again to my friend whom I also got hooked on the books (and have started buying them) or I'll borrow hers. The average of $20 I save up and use a month to buy books I've started buying because I stole those 7 e-copies could be used much better. Who need any other books than those I find in the libraries. With the $20 I have/had to buy book I like, I can't affort to try and use $10-15 or more I'd use to try a book and see if I like the series so I'd rather not try it at all. The 3 authors whos books I already buy I'll probably keep on buying. Stealing or not I feel that the 73 book I've bought so far and their future books have paid out the 7 e-copies long ago. But all others are not possible any more (incl. David Hewson whom I've never heard of untill I stumbled over the link to this blog) because I have no other way of deciding if I really like the author. I used to research an author thoroughly online and then if they keept making me going back to maybe reading their books – then I tried to download a couple of books. That have worked those few times except for one mistake. But a theft is a theft. All the books I could have bought from other authors in the future doesn't count anymore because I would have to steal a few e-copies to do it. I'm not any better than those who rip off every e-book they can get their hands on because they wont buy the books just because I thought my motive was better.
Thou shalt not steal. I'm guessing that might mean books as well as anything else. But, in a world where all is relative and entitlement reigns supreme there is no such thing as mine. Only yours if you want it and that for the taking. Dark ages, here we come.
“you simply stole that book”It's called copyright infringement. The very definition of “theft” implies a loss of *physical* property. If we're going to call something illegal, we need to use the right terminology.I realize it's easy to conflate ethics and morality with legality, but doing so spreads misinformation.
Since you can't return, loan, or keep a digital copy beyond the life of the technology that encases it, a print copy is inherently more valuable. A digital purchase is a LEASE.Also, JFYI, I am allowed to scan my entire library if I want to for backup so long as I don't upload it for mass sharing. The Betamax decision decided that. Books can survive for hundreds of years; most digital copies of anything become obsolete within a decade. The backup copies I could make are inferior copies.The movie industry agrees with me, by the way: they offer digital downloads for many popular titles when you purchase the physical DVD, for FREE. If the book industry did this, there would be a lot less need for people to file share to find e-copies of books they already own.I have a laptop for work because I have no choice. I cannot afford an e-reader. Why should I spend the effort of scanning all of my books every time I travel when I can download copies someone else has made and leave my books in one place? No one else reads them when I'm away; they sit and gather dust. I don't consider that wrong, morally or otherwise, and I've already paid for the books. I buy books to support the authors. I also have no room for the amount of reading I do in one carry-on.Just some food for thought — some 'pirates' are using the Internet as their neighbor's scanner and actually spend money on books. A lot of money. In my case, almost all of my disposable income.I also keep a list of authors who have walked around pantless on Teh Internets, advocating for dumb ideas like DRM, the draconian “3 strikes” rule and the misinterpretation of U.S. copyright law. I have a long memory. Every time I reach for one of their titles, I remind myself of their beliefs, and I think twice about buying their books.No one here has said anything that bad, but on DearAuthor I have had to drop some really good authors from my TBR list. It was sad. I got over it.
Yes, we have. 1. Itunes led the way, and now consumers don't have to pay $18 for a CD when they only wanted one song.2. More independent artists, not fewer, have emerged to sell their music directly online.3. The RIAA failed to accept reality, failed to win over the public, and quit following throug with legal threats on cease & desist letters after 2008. Their current legal battles are all older cases from the first half of the last decade. Even with the court cases they have won, the battles are pyrrhic victories, as –4. they have themselves to thank for permanently alienating an entire generation of music listeners who know that musicians are often cheated out of the pitifully small royalties they do make with the large conglomerates.5. Most musicians make their money through concert sales and merchandise, not the packaging of their music or the music itself.The music industry is NOT the same as the publishing industry.Still sure you want to compare books to songs?
So if you go into someone's online bank account and empty it that's not theft because there's no loss of physical property? Yes – we need to use the right terminology. Taking something that doesn't belong to you is theft.
The music industry has struggled with the problem of piracy for yearsYeah because they were stupid. You have them to thank for the proliferation of piracy. Napster was one site, they had everything on one server. Instead of thinking – hey there's a bunch of people downloading stuff we should monetize this, they just shut it down creating a vacuum. Into that vacuum came peer to peer, a service that could never be shut down because it wasn't located on just one server. If they had set up a paid napster alternative back then we would not have such a problem with piracy.You and other authors keep calling it theft. Yes it's illegal, yes it's wrong but it is not theft. It is copyright infringement. Even the music industry realises this or why else would they be pursuing folks through the civil courts for copyright infringement?Your bank account example is ridiculous. A bank account is a digital representation of a physical entity – paper money. An ebook is not tied to a paper book, you can copy it endlessly for all eternity.So I would like to know from the authors – what is being stolen? You call it theft, what is being stolen? I don't see it. If someone is going to download a book illegally they weren't going to buy your book in the first place – so I wouldn't call it a lost sale. What exactly has been stolen? I'm very interested to know.
It is faintly encouraging to see people who steal things squirming so much to find some way to justify their actions. I suppose it goes to show they know that what they do is wrong. The bank account example is not ridiculous; the argument being put forward was that anything that doesn't exist in physical form cannot be stolen. Clearly it can.
You two are talking about two different things. No matter what it's called legally, David Hewson is saying that copyright infringement is, morally, theft. (Just as one might say some uses of eminent domain are actually theft, or starting a war is mass murder.)
England does something similar, and I wish the US would. I do almost all my reading from the library, and could never afford to be the reader I am without it, but I'd like to feel the writer is getting something more than the royalty for the individual copy. I do request and order books a lot, which, I guess, ups the demand.
But it's very possible that fiction writing will become an amateur sport, a hobby, that will support no one or very few people. That happened to opera and poetry. The country used to support many local opera companies, in which people made a living; now we listen to a few excellent ones only. You used to be able to make a living as a poet–yes, really! Who waits for the latest poem now? Who reviews it? Only small circles of people who are essentially hobbyists.Times do change. This is one change I don't want to see, but it may happen.
Libraries are great and important institutions. No author is going to feel cheated by any reader who frequents them. You're right though – there should be a public lending right scheme in the US. I will be writing about ours in the UK later this month when I get my 2010 statement.
I agree that content production will suffer and think there are parallels in the film industry where huge upfront budgets are required to produce the films we love. If copyright can not be preserved what will be their incentive to spend the budget? I always ask people what is your favourite film? I then suggest that it would not have been made without an enforceable copyright regime. The same could be said of one's favourite book. Will t-shirts and character models produce sufficient alternative income?I am calling the people who have already undergone the cultural shift you mention, “Copyright Hippies”
Good name for them – and rather more polite than some I can think of!2010/1/8 Disqus <>
David, old top,A quick question. I know you're busy. But it looks as if my novel mayactually be published and my agent has asked me if I wish to sign up for theGoogle Book Agreement. I know next to nothing about this. The usual sites goon and on about the politics of it, but offer little that is clear andunbiased on what it actually amounts to from an author's standpoint.Obviously, from my perspective, the important thing is just to get intoprint – and I have no expectations of becoming a Big Name Brand any timesoon. Even so, the deal looks to benefit Google much more than it benefitswriters. But should I bow to the inevitable or should I say no? What do youthink?Walter
Congratulations! But I'm afraid I am no wiser to the Google Book Agreementthan you – though I have tried to understand it. Everyone over here seems tosay don't sign. But I'd ask your agent's advice or seek that of someonerather better informed than I. It seems to me to affect US-based writersrather more at the moment.2010/1/21 Disqus <>
Thanks for that. I am based in the U.S. but will be published in the UK.Frankly, I doubt the Google deal will affect me much one way or the other.My agent says he would go for it, on balance, but admits that he atsomething of a loss. It seems to be a Google promulgation – like aPresidential decree – that has been cooked up in the States but could havenear-universal application. The French, as you might expect, are taking itto court. Maybe they'll sort it out. By the by (and don't feel you have torespond to this – you've got work to do), France seems to be the hardestEuropean market for Brits to crack, even when, as in my case, the story isset there. I suspect they feel that if it wasn't written in French to beginwith, it can't be any good. They could, of course, be right.Good luck in the future … not that you need it.Walter
If a foreigner sets a book in a particular country that's always the placethat's hardest to crack which is why I was both surprised and pleased to getpublished very quickly in Italy. Don't take it to heart. Just keep onwriting.2010/1/21 Disqus <>
This may be useful re Google Books settlementhttp://www.societyofauthors.org/information-and...
> … the problem of piracy… [has].changed the
> way musicians work, making many more reliant on
> touring and appearances than music sales.
Yes, this seems to be true. Music has reverted to something more like what it was before the arrival of commercial music recording. Musicians are playing before audiences again.
Is this necessarily change for the worse?. Recorded music is what’s left behind after the musicians have gone home. As Billy Bragg says: The music industry is doing just fine. It’s the recording industry that’s dying on its feet.
Does this mean that novel-writing is destined to revert to story-tellling round the camp fire? Perhaps not: the music industry is a poor parallel — but it was you, David, who introduced the “music theft” analogy.
By the way, you’re right to point out that physicality isn’t the touchstone in theft. But I think you’ve missed the point. The UK Theft Act hinges on “intention permanently to deprive…” Copying a book isn’t theft, so you’d need to move to some second order definition to do with depriving you of your income stream. Intention might be difficult to prove there, though.
Digitisation and the Internet bring vast changes, and certainly novelists won’t be immune. But clinging to old ideas that no longer work won’t help us meet this future. The immutables here aren’t centred around (mostly) 19th C legal fictions about who owns what. They’re the facts that music needs to be listened to and books need to be read. And, hey, those damn thieves out there are listening and reading.
My own stuff seems to love sailing out across bittorrent sites to meet its fans. I don’t dismiss the question of who pays for your meals while you write your next book. But it’s not much use looking backwards for answers to that question. Have you talked to Cory Doctorow about this?
–
Chris
Theft is taking something that doesn’t belong to you as far as I’m concerned. On the basis of ‘permanent denial’ nicking a book from a bookshop isn’t theft so long as you just plead ‘But I meant to take it back when I’d read it’. It’s pathetic to see people benefiting from something they should be paying for then trying to squirm their way out of feeling any guilt about what they do.
Cory Doctorow is very articulate about what works for Cory Doctorow. But as I’ve said before, the idea that will work for the vast majority of writers is simple fantasy.